A Man and his Jacket
by emcey squared
Summary: KotOR II. Atton loves his jacket, but it seems as though it’s being stolen everywhere he goes these days. It’s all that Exile’s fault, too… LSFExileAtton.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I don't own KotOR II.

Summary – Atton loves his jacket, but it seems as though it's being stolen everywhere he goes these days. It's all that Exile's fault, too… LSFExile/Atton.

A/N Some of this will be funny, some will be serious. I don't know when this will be updated. The snippets will appear as I think of them.

_**The Beginning**_

"Ugh, I'm freezing in here. Those giant windows were definitely poor design features; they let out all the warmth," Ann grumbled, rubbing her shoulders awkwardly. Reluctantly, her eyes turned to the scoundrel who stood next to her.

He was trying not to stare at her underwear, which did earn Atton points, but Ann wondered just how far he'd go to redeem himself from the slap he'd earned earlier. "Atton?" she practically purred.

"Yes, Ann?" he replied, refusing to look away from the blank console.

"I'm cold."

"Yes, I think you've quite clearly established that, standing here half naked, you're cold."

"Would you like to do something about that for me?" Ann grinned wickedly as a faint flush appeared on Atton's pale cheeks.

"Like what?"

"Can I borrow your jacket?"

"Of course… wait… No! This is my lucky jacket…"

It was too late. Ann had already launched herself at the right sleeve and, within moments, had wrenched it off Atton in order to start wearing the ribbed jacket herself. "Mmmm… still warm. Thanks for being so kind, caring, generous…"

"I want that back in one piece in the same condition it is in right now. Meaning no blaster holes…"

"Oh, look, T3 came through for us," Ann interrupted quickly, snuggling into the jacket and trying not to laugh at the smuggler's glare.

"So that tin can is good for something after all. Now we have a clear shot to the hanger… and a ship… and clothes for you so that I can have my jacket back."

"Actually," Ann winced as Atton glowered at her, "the elevator is currently… inaccessible. I had T3 open the mining hatch."

"You did what? That's… that's suicide. You are _not_ taking my jacket down there!"

"I promise I'll be back, with one unharmed jacket, in no time at all," she promised, scampering away.

"My jacket…"

---

"Did you find the supply crate?" Atton demanded after a long moment of comm silence.

"/Yep. There was even a spare mining jumpsuit in there./" she replied through the static.

"Dammit… I mean, that's good. You shouldn't be running around down there half naked… it's distracting… uh, for the droids," Atton closed his mouth and firmly reminded himself that this woman was a Jedi, albeit an extremely childish, jacket-stealing one… "Will you bring me back my jacket before you go any further."

"/Don't worry, Atton/" Ann spoke in what was surely a soothing tone, though the effect was ruined by the static. "/I won't let your jacket come to any harm while I'm down here./"

"Fine, but I still want it returned in one piece," he growled. "Now, remember what I said about there being droids down there? I've pinned down most of their locations and it looks like their sharing the tunnels with you. I recommend you use a stealth belt if you have one so that they don't open fire on my jacket."

"/I'll do that. Ann out./"

---

Atton slumped into the chair in relief as Ann's signal showed up again. The feeling was short lived, however, as he saw where that signal was coming from. "Ann, I was starting to get worried about my jacket there when your signal vanished. It's just… the comm console must be malfunctioning. The readings say you're outside the facility on the asteroid's surface."

"/Really/" she sounded amused over the comm. "/Imagine that. Look up for a moment, Atton./"

Nervous, Atton did as requested only to see a figure in a space suit standing outside the window. "Ann! What the hell are you doing out there!"

"/I'm taking a leisurely stroll in zero-g/" she teased. "/This is the only way to the crew dorms where there may be some survivors./"

"Well… you better get there fast. The vents are active and pouring fuel into space over the walkway out there." Atton groaned, adding, "with the airlocks active and someone – you – out there, the vents should have been deactivated. It's almost like someone…"

"/Like someone was trying to keep me pinned down. I knew that HK droid was the psycho behind the deaths of the miners. I knew it/" she crowed, shoving a gloved fist up above her helmeted head.

Then the console's docking procedures activated, sending out the navicomp orbital drift charts to an incoming vessel. "I don't believe it," Atton stared at the screen in disbelief. "There's a ship sending in the docking codes. I think you'd better hurry, Ann. I have a bad feeling about this…"

"/Me too/" she echoed softly.

---

"What have you Jedi been breeding while I haven't been looking?" Atton demanded, glowering at Kreia.

Ann giggled. "Yeah. Didn't you hear that Jedi are asexual beings. I split in two and this is the older version of me; what I'll look like when I'm old."

Kreia shot Ann a disapproving look. "We must board the Harbinger to discover what awaits us there."

"She's right," Ann squirmed under Atton's sharp look. "There really isn't much time to talk about it right now. Here's a blaster I found," she pulled out the gun and handed it over, "I'll bet you're a better shot than I am."

Moving to pull off the jacket, Ann froze as a cynical, simulated voice spoke up. "Frustrated Statement: Master, I thought I had made it clear that you should shut down, stay put, and wait for rescue."

"I'm sorry," Ann oozed false sweetness as she drew her vibroblades. "I don't listen to assassin droids."

"Objection: Assassin droid! I am offended by that term, master. Assassin droids are bulky creatures possessing only the most archaic of kill-programs." Pride entered the HK's voice as it continued speaking. "What I do can be referred to as 'wanton slaughter.' It is far more satisfying and artistic than mere 'assassination.'"

"You know what? Murder is murder in my book," Ann snapped.

"Weary Resignation: You are wrong, master, but I do not believe you will allow me to correct you. I had hoped to return you to your kolto tank peacefully, but it seems I may have to break key areas of your skeleton in order to achieve my goal. I do hope your screams of pain are satisfactory enough to make this unnecessary exertion worth the effort."

Atton had heard enough. The HK unit was so intent on threatening Ann, that it didn't take into account her companions. The dark haired scoundrel raised the blaster and planted a series of shots along the droid's exterior. Several shots hit key connections along the joints, locking HK-50's left leg and right arm.

Kreia quickly joined in, but the mining lasers she held were ineffective against the high-grade exoskeleton that the droid had been upgraded with. It was Ann who finished the droid with her vibroblades.

"Warning:" the HK squeaked in a static filled voice, "self-destruct initiated. Countdown: Three… two… one…"

Ann hightailed it towards Atton and scurried behind him just as exploded. Peering over the brunette's shoulder, the shorter, blonde woman heaved a sigh of relief. "At least it wasn't too loud… I hate explosions." She pulled off Atton's jacket and slung it over his shoulders. "Thanks. I hope you didn't suffer too badly for the separation from your 'lucky' jacket."

Atton just smiled, holstered the blaster, and slid his arms through the sleeves. "Hey, don't mock it, Ann. After all, you came back with both it and yourself unharmed, right?"

Ann tilted her head thoughtfully. "You know what? You're right. I didn't get hit once, and I faced a legion of those demented droids. Could I hang onto it for just a little bit longer…? I guess not," she chuckled at the suddenly dark glare on Atton's face. "Never mind."

A/N hmmm… I wonder what should happen to the jacket next…


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I don't own KotOR II.

A/N Well, getting four review on the same day I posted the first chappie inspired me to write another. I doubt I'll normally update this fast, but then again… stealing Atton's jacket is sooo much fun. Hehe, I would also like to thank darthnotrevan for supplying me with the idea for this chappie.

Oh, and kitkatt0430, if you're reading this, did you notice that one reference I made to our conversation on witty replies that should have been in the game?

_**Thief**_

"Hey! I can understand taking my blaster," Atton protested loudly, "but my jacket!"

Lieutenant Grenn rolled his eyes. "It's been modified to double as a form of armor. Procedure is required that it, along with any other armor, is confiscated."

"So I made mine a little better than regular jackets, it's…"

"Stop complaining, Atton. You'll have your lucky jacket back soon enough," Ann teased, a grin on her face. "At least this time you won't have to worry about it going into a combat situation without you."

Lieutenant Grenn gave the two an amused glance and gestured for all three to follow him. "These aren't the most luxurious accommodations, but I assure you that your time spent in the force cages will be brief. It will take only one to two hours at most to arrange for an apartment for you."

"Thanks, Lieutenant," Ann turned to Atton, who kept looking back at the room they'd just left. "Atton, stop worrying about your jacket. I swear, that thing's your equivalent of a pet rock, isn't it?"

"I hate you…" he grumbled.

Ann couldn't help herself; between the disapproval on Kreia's face and the unhappy expression Atton wore, she began to giggle. As they were locked away in the force cages, the sheer absurdity of their situation made itself known and her laughter only increased.

"Are you sure you were a Jedi?" Atton demanded after the doors closed.

---

The man who walked into the prison room wore a TSF uniform, but his stance and the way his eyes shifted practically screamed 'fraud.' Atton was absolutely appalled that someone so obvious had managed to make his way past security.

"So you're the last of the Jedi," the man drawled while staring at Ann, who was in the process of standing. His eyes flickered up and down as he looked her over, pausing quite noticeably to stare at her chest.

Atton bristled. Sure, he'd done almost the exact same thing when he'd met her, but she'd been in her underwear then. It was hard _not_ to stare at a gorgeous woman wearing only her bra and panties.

"Do you want something," Ann growled, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"The Exchange has a bounty out on Jedi, did you know? As the last of your 'religion' you're worth a great deal of money. You ought to know this already; I'm disappointed."

"Somehow, you just don't look like an Exchange member," Atton cut in coldly. "To be honest, you don't _look_ like much of anything."

"I'm more than skilled enough to work for the Exchange," the man hissed. "I am a bounty hunter of the highest quality…"

"And people would still rather hire a Mandalorian than some filth like you, right?" Atton snickered as the man twitched.

"No Mandalorian could do what I've done," he snarled. Then the imposter's voice changed as he began to brag. "No Mandalorian could have stolen the identity of one of the TSF and infiltrated their headquarters. My plan is brilliant."

"So you're, what, gonna overload the cages and see if that'll kill us?" Atton rolled his eyes, injecting his tone with the same condescension Kreia treated him with.

"Don't think I didn't consider it…"

"Well, you are a coward, after all," Ann cut in, smirking. "So, if that's not the plan, what is?"

"To kill you personally, Jedi," the man snarled.

"Hey," Atton protested. "Leave her alone. You probably wouldn't be able to beat me, much less a Jedi capable of stopping you without ever having to come near you."

"You've goaded me once, idiot, you won't have a chance to do so again! An old woman, a fool, and a broken Jedi are no match for me!" the bounty hunter crowed. Then, proving how stupid he really was, the man lowered all three cages at once. Both Ann and Kreia hit him with a Force Push and the bounty hunter slammed into the wall and slumped to the floor, dead.

Then the doors opened again. Lieutenant Grenn walked in, not noticing the corpse at first. "The cameras are off, I came to…" then the state of the room sank in and he pulled his blaster. Since none of them had actually left their cages, he edged over to reactivate them. "What the hell happened in here? Why did you kill Sergeant… this isn't Sergeant Batu Rim."

"He said he was going to collect the bounty on me," Ann offered helpfully. "Though, he seemed to prefer killing me to turning me in alive, which is stupid. From what I've heard, there aren't any provisions for turning in a lifeless body, since the bounty hunter could be lying about whether the person was a Jedi or not."

Atton grinned. It was morbid, but her comments were actually rather funny, too. "So, since we got rid of the infiltrator for you, can I have my jacket back now?"

"You are a complete and utter imbecile," Kreia declared.

---

The doors slid shut on the apartment. "I can't believe he wouldn't let me have my jacket back. I'm starting to think he doesn't like me very much," Atton griped.

"Oh I know he doesn't," Kreia assured him coldly. "I am going to meditate."

"That's nice. I don't care," Atton snapped.

"Children, play nice," Ann teased, flopping down on the center bed and snuggled her face against the pillow.

"Ann, you should meditate as well," Kreia admonished.

"Uh, I actually did that while we were in the force cages. I'm surprised you didn't." Ann looked up and then covered her face with her right hand as she yawned. "I'm tired… night all…"

Kreia sniffed disdainfully and then sat down in front of the cot furthest from the door in order to meditate. Covering a yawn of his own, Atton sat down on the only unclaimed bed, kicked off his boots, and lay down under the covers.

It seemed as though only moments had passed, though the chronometer on the wall told him that an hour and a half later than when he'd lain down, when the comm began ringing. He sat up and blinked sleepily, trying to remember where he was.

"Hello?" Ann's voice cut through the haze as Atton turned to see what she was doing.

"/Lieutenant Grenn has cleared an Ithorian by the name of Moza to see you. Should I send him in/"

"Of course," Ann's voice was far too cheery for someone who'd just been asleep.

Atton lay back down and attempted to bury himself beneath the blankets.

---

"So, what exactly is it the Ithorian would be healing you for, anyway?" Atton asked as they sat in the TSF headquarters waiting area. "You aren't injured, you don't look sick…"

"I lost my ability to use the force about ten years ago and it's only just returning to me," Ann admitted softly. "I guess Chodo Habat was referring to that."

"I do not think we should get involved with the affairs of these Ithorians," Kreia advised.

"I know you don't seem to like them, but they're definitely more qualified than Czerka… then again, Mandalorians could probably heal planet's better than Czerka," Ann shrugged. "Besides, their kind have always been kind to me and Chodo Habat seems sincere enough."

Kreia didn't answer and so they fell into silence for a moment.

"Ann, you seem much calmer than you did on Peragus. It's almost… streaming off of you," Atton said quietly, so that Kreia wouldn't hear.

Ann started, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest," he smiled at her disarmingly. "I suppose it's like you're more at peace with yourself now."

"Well, I do kind of feel more at peace… like I'm starting to find something I lost a long time ago. I haven't felt this good in a long time," Ann leaned back and studied Atton curiously. "So, once we get our gear, and your jacket, back, are you going to stick it out with us? Or are you gonna ditch us terrible excuses for Jedi?" There was mirth in her eyes that retracted from the seriousness of the question.

"Well… you do need a pilot, right?" When Ann gave a quick affirmative, Atton continued with, "well then, I guess I will stick around. Wouldn't want you two clueless Jedi flying into a black hole or anything."

"I hear the Maw is pretty this time of year," Ann agreed.

That was when the protocol droid walked in. "Are you the owners of the Ebon Hawk…? There is some… unwelcome news I must give you…" Quickly, the droid told them the news about the ship and T3.

"I knew it! That astro droid is probably joy-riding through the system laughing at us right now!" Atton exclaimed.

"I don't think T3 stole the ship, Atton. It seems to like me… though he seems to be under the impression that you don't like him for some strange and unknown reason," Ann teased, striding towards the door where their equipment was being kept. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go steal your jacket."

"What!" Atton rushed past her, "you are _not_ getting my jacket!" He pulled open the first locker he could find and rummaged through it. "Where is it…?"

"HA!"

Atton only had enough time to look up and see Ann running from the room with something familiar and brown before the Jedi was gone. "HEY! Ann! Get back here! Using the Force to run faster is _cheating_!" Then he, too, was gone from the room.

Sighing in annoyance, it was left to Kreia to finish gathering their equipment.

A/N Hehehe, I would definitely use the Force to cheat like that. Poor Atton, what has he signed himself on for?

Oh, FYI, the Maw is an area of space filled with several black holes and it's a pilot's nightmare.

Hmm… Next shall be… Atris' Academy. The Handmaidens take away his jacket and divulge the secrets of his Echani training. Me thinks he doesn't like them much, no matter how pretty they may be.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Hmm… I feel a sense of déjà vu

Disclaimer: Hmm… I feel a sense of déjà vu. Haven't I disclaimed this before?

A/N – Well, here ya go. Chapter 3; this was fun to write. In fact, all this is fun to write. I hope it makes just as entertaining a read. :) And you should all thank my beta reader, KitKatt0430, for nagging at me to update… and then finally telling me that she wouldn't work on our collaboration stories until I'd posted more to this story and updated my bio. She's a demanding taskmaster… but she was right that I was being lazy.

_**Echani**_

Atton stood dizzily and brought a hand to his forehead, which was in an incredible amount of pain. He wasn't that surprised when his fingers came away with blood on them, though it wasn't as bad is it could have been.

At least his jacket was unharmed, right?

"Greetings: Salutations, sentients and Jedi. It is quite amazing that you survived that crash," a very familiar, condescending tone drawled.

Looking out at the snow covered land in front of him, Atton spied three HK-50 droids standing a little ways before him, Ann, and Kreia. Bao-Dur was nowhere to be seen. Disoriented from the crash, Atton found he couldn't quite concentrate on the assassin droids in front of him; his mind wandered from worry over what might have happened to the Zabarak to how he hadn't seen snow in such a long time.

He pulled his blasters and tried to concentrate. For a moment, Atton didn't think he'd be successful, but then the HK droids began shooting at Ann. Suddenly he had all the focus he needed. Quick shots hit key areas on the left droid's exposed circuitry, causing more wiring to show through. Kreia, with her vibrosword, was tearing through the right HK's joints. Ann twirled her new double bladed vibrosword and, after several solid hits, decapitated the center droid. The other two droids fell moments later, almost simultaneously.

"Where's Bao-Dur?" Ann asked as she looked around where she and the other two had awoken.

"He may still be in the shuttle or he could be at the back," Atton offered, holstering his blasters.

Ann glanced over at him and then shoved her hands into her pockets. After a long moment of searching, she yanked out a medpack and handed it to him. "You don't have a concussion, do you?"

"I don't think I do," he said with a shrug, accepting the medpack and applying the kolto as best he could. "At the very least, I'm not seeing double. That's usually a good sign."

"Thank goodness you're a pilot, not a doctor," Ann teased, a smile briefly replacing the worried look on her face.

Atton just smiled and shrugged, heading around the starboard side of the downed shuttle while ignoring Kreia's disapproving glower.

Something – or someone, rather – blue stopped Atton in his tracks when he neared the back of the shuttle. He thought he called for Ann, but he wasn't certain. Bao-Dur lay unconcious, partially covered by the snow. Bending down, Atton tried to get a hold on the Zabarak's shoulders, but the fake arm, still glowing blue, weighed the technician down.

Ann appeared at Bao-Dur's feet and tried to help, but even with her Jedi abilities it was no good.

"We'll just have to get inside the facility and hope the locals are the kind of ship thieves that help out wounded techs," Atton quipped, using the last of the kolto in the medpack Ann had given him on a nasty looking scrape on Bao-Dur's face.

She nodded, but didn't move. "I wish had the ability to levitate things again. I'm making good progress on the whole 'relearning the Force' front, yet things would be so much easier if I hadn't lost my connections in the first place."

Uncertain as to what he should say, Atton stood and dusted the snow off his pants and noticed, somewhat distantly, that he was shaking like a leaf. In fact, he was freezing. "Come on, I think there's an entrance of some sort over there," he gestured to a nearby snowdrift. "Let's go before Granny starts doing a Snow Queen impression."

"Snow Queen?" Ann echoed.

"On my homeworld, there was this story about an evil witch who made it snow all the time so that everything would die from the cold," Atton answered and then winced internally. He'd sworn never to speak of his past, even the parts that were good, to anyone.

"Do you think I'm evil?" Kreia asked mockingly.

Atton paused to glare at her, but by then they'd arrived at the snowdrift, which was indeed an entrance, and there was no need to reply. The three deadly looking women in snow white outfits, perhaps the reason why the Atton hadn't seen them before, insured that all conversation died.

The women were crouched in Echani attack positions and, for the second time that day, Atton slipped up. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, the brunette pilot fell into an Echani defensive stance as though it had been only days and not years since he'd taken advantage of his Republic training. The minute Ann handed over her vibroblades to the leader of the platinum blonde women, Atton snapped out of his stance and tossed over his blasters.

He could tell; this was going to be a very bad day.

--

"This is the second time people have _stolen_ my jacket and then stuck me in a force cage like _I'm_ the criminal," Atton grumbled. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and shivered; they may have been taken inside, but it was still cold. "And why are we here instead of with Ann?"

Kreia looked as though she was torn between using the Force to slam Atton into the force cage wall and ignoring him altogether. Unable to make up her mind, she opted for the third path – change the subject. "This place resembles a school for Jedi… yet where are the students?"

"School for Jedi…" Atton shuddered. If there were a lot of Jedi and they learned what he'd done… "Aren't we dealing with enough Jedi as it is?"

"And what is your fear for?" Kreia mocked.

"It's bad enough having to put up with you; landing in a nest of meddling Jedi is terrible. You know how they are." Atton jumped as the field sparked behind him, shocking his hand. He hadn't even realized that he was backing away from the old woman.

Kreia tilted her head to the side, a slow smirk lighting up her face. "No… I don't know how they are. At least not the way you seem to…" her hand stretched forward lazily as she spoke. Pressure began to build up against Atton's mind. "Let's see what it is you're hiding."

"N-no. Get out of my head!" Atton fell to his knees in pain. "Get out – get out – get out…" tears began building in his eyes as he brought his hands to his face, as if to physically ward off the psychic attack. He couldn't think through the pain, couldn't hear the words Kreia mocked him with, couldn't do anything wait for the pain and torment to end.

And then it finally stopped. Atton brought his hands to the floor, bracing himself as he breathed harshly. "How dare you…"

"How dare I what, murderer?"

Atton's head snapped up to watch Kreia, panic and surprise written across his face. _Oh God… she knows…_

"You will do as I say from now on, or I shall tell the Exile. That would break you, I think."

"What do you want with me, anyway?" Atton demanded, still crouched defensively on the ground.

"Every game of djarak requires a few pawns," Kreia waved her hand dismissively and Atton found himself fighting, and losing, to the encroaching darkness. Toppling forward, he fell asleep.

--

"Atton? Atton, wake up, won't you?" The world swam into focus before his eyes to reveal Ann kneeling over him with a worried expression. "Are you okay?"

"Uh… fine… I'm fine." Sitting up and blinking owlishly, he looked around. "So, are you done with the Jedi?"

"Sort of. Atris, the Jedi who lives here, used to be my friend and… and even though she doesn't like me any more, I kinda feel like I owe her, you know?" Ann shrugged. "I offered her my help and she told me to track down a few Jedi Masters for her. She's changed so much… it's like she's gone all bitter inside and I'm worried. Maybe… maybe if I can do this for her, she won't be so angry with me anymore." Shaking her head nervously, Ann stood and grabbed Atton's wrist, pulling him up with her. "Come on. Let's find our stuff, and your jacket, and get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan… hey, where's Bao-Dur?" Eyes landing on Kreia, Atton repressed a shudder of anger. That witch had no right to go digging around in his mind…

"He didn't look so good, so I sent him ahead to the ship with orders to rest. If I'd realized that you're not quite right either…" she trailed off, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"I'm fine, really. That knock on my head earlier just really threw me, okay?"

Ann nodded. "If you say so." She reached over to the cargo container and opened it. Smiling brightly, she began to retrieve their things. "Hey, look, your jacket!"

"Mine!" Atton snatched it from her hand and held it protectively. "Seriously. What is with people and stealing my jacket?"

"I like to steal your jacket 'cause its good luck saved me in those mines on Peragus," Ann declared facetiously. "Everyone else just wants to learn how you turned an ordinary jacket into a defense mechanism. Speaking of which, one of the handmaidens mentioned that you were using an Echani defense earlier."

"Oh… that…" Atton fought a grimace and searched for a quick answer. "You wouldn't believe how many people back out of a fight if they think you have Echani training. I mean, it doesn't beat the Jedi title or anything, though that doesn't seem to be helping you much lately."

Ann grinned. "Oh well. I just thought 'ooh, Echani trained pilot – I'm not gonna have to fight ever again.' Though I suppose that this is a good thing; it means I'll still have a few chances to nick that jacket of yours."

"Mine." Atton held the jacket even more tightly. "Not yours. Try and remember that."

"Hmm… I'm sorry, evil plots to steal your jacket have already filled the memory slots you are requesting. Please try again later," Ann teased. "Oh put the jacket on already. I swear you're strangling the poor thing."

"Humph." Atton did as told, however, and pulled on the jacket.

--

"Uh… Bao-Dur, are you busy?"

The Zabarak glanced over at Atton and then returned his attention to T3-M4. "Not if you want to talk about something."

"You've known Ann for a while, right?" Atton asked, walking into the Hawk's hanger.

"The General? Yeah, I suppose so."

"Well… do you… do you think there might be a chance that she and I…?" A faint flush ran up the pilot's face. "I'm being serious, so don't laugh."

"You and her…?" Bao-Dur echoed. "Look, I really didn't know her well. She didn't even remember me at first. I'm really not qualified to judge that at all… you really are being serious, right?"

"Yes, I'm being serious," Atton snapped. "It's just… I've never met anyone like her before."

T3 blew an electronic raspberry.

"I wasn't asking your opinion, tin can," Atton bristled, "so just keep comments like that to yourself." The droid interrupted with a warbling laugh. "Ugh, I don't need to take this from you… stupid Astro-Droid…"

Bao-Dur grinned. If nothing else, life had just gotten a little more interesting.

A/N Next chappie will probably be Dantooine part one of two. Part one will introduce Mical/Disciple and all of those lovely jealousy issues. Part two will be the fight to protect the colony from mercenaries of evilness. From there to Nar Shadaa, Onderon, Koriban, Onderon (again), and into the endgame spiral. Woohoo!!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Hmm… I feel a sense of déjà vu

Disclaimer: _Waves hand in a Jedi-like manner._ This is not the evil fanfiction authoress you are looking for. Someone else is trying to conquer the Star Wars universe. Move along; move along.

Warning: I dislike Disciple, as does my beta reader. It's reflected in this chapter. Oh, and we tried to get most of the grammar/spelling issues out of the way, but let me know if we let something slide by. Thanks. :)

_**That's Gratitude for You**_

There wasn't much to say about Khoonda, the salvagers, or the mercenaries. Basically, they were all war veterans. The farmers didn't want to battle anymore, the salvagers couldn't shake their wanderlust or earn enough credits to satisfy that need to travel, and the mercenaries automatically assumed that anyone who wasn't a mercenary were pathetic, whiny weaklings. In short, Dantooine was full of idiots.

Ann mentioned that it hadn't been all that different when the Jedi had been there, so Atton assumed that instead of salvagers, the Jedi had made up the third tier of idiots. Jedi did tend to be hypocritical, arrogant jerks that denied the emotions that made them living beings and not super powered droids, after all.

Seeing the Jedi temple in ruins from the outside had been a horrible shock to Ann. She'd stood there just staring at it for a while and hadn't looked away until the tears started to run down her face. Bao-Dur had been all shifty and uncomfortable; Ann was his General and he was probably uncertain how to treat her as anything else. Not that Atton had any problem with being the one who got to put an arm around her shoulders and be all comforting.

No, what Atton had a problem with was the blonde twerp who thought he could barge into their quest and become Ann's knight in shining armor. 'Mical Disciple' had to be a term in some language for an obsequious yet arrogant man who spoke in condescending tones and acted as though he either knew everything or could divine that knowledge for himself through data sifting. Ann swore that the only reason she'd allowed the man to tag along was for his ability to data sift, but Atton recognized the worshipful expression in Disciple's eyes even if she didn't.

Blondie had a crush on Ann. His familiarity with the Jedi Enclave and Jedi teachings suggested that he'd once been a Jedi, though probably only a Padawan if he'd even lasted through the apprentice stages. Ann had once lived at the Dantooine Enclave; odds were that Disciple knew Ann from way back and she'd made more of an impression on him than he had on her. Blondie's crush clearly dated way back.

Atton would have felt bad for the man if he weren't so busy feeling threatened. Ann was smart, beautiful, deadly, and way out of Atton's league. But really, if she was out of Atton's league, then a loser like Disciple had no business even trying.

"Ann, look over there, the laigreks seem to be swarming around that door in particular." Disciple's statement was rather obvious. Everyone had seen that the giant insects were swarming the door. The reason why could be easily divined as well; some moron was trapped in the room and was screaming for help. Assuming that the others were following his lead, Disciple ran forward to attack the insects and save the man trapped within the sealed room.

Ann visibly rolled her eyes, not that Disciple noticed in his rush to impress her. She turned to Atton and Bao-Dur, quirked an eyebrow, and said, "how did he manage to make it to the archive room without one of these bugs turning him into lunch?"

"I was just wondering that myself," Bao-Dur muttered.

"Odds are that the laigreks don't think idiots taste good," Atton offered.

As a group, they winced as one bit Disciple's ankle while the blonde hacked at it with a vibrosword.

"When we get back to the ship, I'm going to finish building my lightsaber," Ann declared. "I found a crystal that should give me a viridian colored blade, which ought to be pretty."

"I can check the parts over to make sure they're still functional when we return to the ship," Bao-Dur offered, to which Ann responded with a gleeful 'thank you.'

Finally the first of the four laigreks that Disciple was fighting died. It was still attached to his ankle, however. Atton was fairly certain they'd have to pry the thing off him later. By then, the third laigrek noticed the spectators. It started to scuttle towards them, but paused when Ann brandished her dual bladed vibrosword, Atton pulled out his blasters, and Bao-Dur grabbed the rifle he'd kept hooked over his shoulder. Thinking better of its decision to attack the trio, it looked at its dead friend and the two that were still attacking Disciple and decided to cut its losses by running for it.

Everyone put their weapons back up, except for Disciple who was busy stabbing at the eyes of one of the bugs.

"Well, I think that laigrek had a fairly high IQ… for a non-sentient insect," Ann observed. "We don't happen to have any insta-pop popcorn with us?"

"Nope." "Nuh-uh."

"Damn." Ann watched as one of the remaining laigreks circled around Disciple and attempted to tackle attack him. "I don't know about you two, but I would love to have something to snack on while watching the show."

"Just curious, but when are we going to step in and save him?" Bao-Dur asked.

"When the one on the left finally goes for his jugular, we'll take pity on him." Ann shrugged, reached into her pack, and retrieved a candy bar. Unwrapping the bar, she bit down, sat on the nearest pile of rubble, and proceeded to enjoy the show.

Atton grinned and decided that Ann's somewhat vicious and vindictive streak made her all that more appealing.

--

Vrook was a rather unimposing old man trapped in a force cage.

Atton couldn't believe how relieved he was that someone else got to be in jail this time. It was about time his luck started looking up. Now he just needed to work on the jacket-stealing front and he'd be set.

Ann had struck again. They'd been fighting a nest of kinrath – yet another giant bug species that lived on Dantooine – and Ann had taken a fairly nasty hit from the queen. Atton and Disciple had both insisted she sit out the rest of the fight (the first thing the two had managed to agree on) and Atton had lent her the jacket as she recovered to ensure she wouldn't get hurt further.

Now, she wouldn't give the damn thing back and they were about to fight a bunch of angry, trigger-happy, psycho mercenaries.

"Woah, nice setup," Ann complemented as she strolled right into the encampment. Atton had to restrain the urge to smack his forehead with one of his hands. Sometimes that woman was a complete and total fruitcake. "Very retro and lair-like; you could do some major plotting in this atmosphere." Okay, not just sometimes. She was crazy 24/7 or whatever the hours-per-day/days-per-week ratio the planet had.

Vrook's expression was swiftly turning into one that would melt durasteel. Obviously he remembered Ann and did not want her to be the one to rescue him. Moreover, he looked like he'd rather be eaten by one of those creatures Atton had heard about that lived in the sands of Tatooine and had an incredibly slow and painful digestive process.

The reason why Ann had described Master Vrook as having a chip on his shoulder the size of the planet of Coruscant was starting to sink in.

Not taking well to Ann's summation of their hideaway, the mercenaries attacked. Ann took out their leader and one other, Atton took out two (one he got with his blasters and the other he had to pull out a vibroblade to finish off), and Bao-Dur took care of two others. Disciple was pinned to the ground by a Trandoshan wielding a Bothan stunner. Thus Atton got a third mercenary by taking pity on the blonde twit and shooting the Trandoshan. The corpse slumped on top of Disciple, who began struggling to get the dead weight off of him.

"Do you know what you have done?!" Vrook demanded angrily as Ann deactivated the force cage.

"Oh, don't worry about it, really. There's no need to thank me for saving you an awkward trip to Nar Shaddaa." Ann held her hands up as though she had actual praise to ward off. "It's no problem at all. I mean, I enjoy taking actual action and helping people instead of sitting on my ass and 'thinking' all day."

Bao-Dur snickered, Atton coughed to cover up a laugh, and Disciple asked if someone would please help him get the Trandoshan moved because the body was actually quite weighty.

Needless to say, Disciple was ignored.

"Is this a joke to you?" Vrook looked murderous; Atton was surprised that this man had never fallen to the dark side. The way Vrook's temper was running it seemed to completely blind him to everything but what he wanted to see.

"Fine. Why don't you tell me just what the hell is wrong with saving a Jedi Master? You do remember there's something of a shortage of Jedi Masters at the moment?" Ann's voice had taken on the drawling tone she used when she was about to inform someone exactly how stupid he (or she) was.

"Now that I've been released, the mercenaries will speed up their attack on Khoonda. They were being financed by someone and now I will be unable to ascertain who in time to prevent the attack."

Ann gave Vrook a look that plainly said that she thought plankton was smarter than Vrook. "Okay, first… knowing who's financing the plot won't stop the takeover attempt. Second, the financier should be obvious; they were planning to give you to the Exchange, which is the answer you were looking for. Third, they are planning to attack Khoonda regardless, so if you were rotting in some Exchange prison then you'd be worse than useless to the settlers here because you could have helped and chose to be stupid instead. Not that being worse than useless is a new concept to you.

"While, yes, my saving you may have caused the mercs to step up their plans, at least now the settlers will have a Jedi Master to help them defend themselves instead of just us." Ann tilted her head to the side. "So, are you done being whiny about everything just because you don't like me and are petty enough to pretend it would have been better if I hadn't saved you?"

Instead of responding, Vrook stormed off in an angry sulk.

"I'll take that as a resounding 'no'," Ann muttered.

"Please…" Disciple sounded like he was having a little trouble breathing. "A… a little… help… please?"

Ann gestured and the Trandoshan corpse rolled off of Disciple, who looked disgusted by the flecks of blood covering his shirt.

Well… that was gratitude for you.

Atton walked over to Ann and tugged on the hem of his jacket. "Can I have this back, now?"

"No!" Ann crossed her arms and mock shivered. "It's like a security blanket. I feel all safe with it on."

Atton frowned and tugged on the hem again. "But it's _my_ jacket."

"You lent it to me."

"While you were hurt. You aren't hurt anymore."

"What? Does the emotional pain that Vrook caused me not count?"

"Ann…" Atton trailed off, unable to dignify her words with a response.

"All right, then. I'll just hang onto it for a little while longer," she declared and then dashed back out into the main tunnels.

"ANN!!" Atton rushed after her, only seconds behind. The tunnels wound around too much; there was no way she could use Force Speed this time…

A/N Would now be a good time to say that I think Vrook is a hypocritical moron who needs to get a life?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Hmm… I feel a sense of déjà vu

Disclaimer: Be very, very careful; there are Sith afoot.

_**Khoonda**_

Atton kicked one of the mercenaries in the face, which knocked the man unconcious. One down, twenty or so to go…

The mercenaries were attacking Khoonda. Ann had fixed the turrets, set up a really tricky minefield, fixed the broken droids, healed the hurt soldiers, recruited people around Khoonda, and enticed at least half the scavengers to join the local military. Master Vrook had yet to show up, but that didn't surprise Atton much. He figured the guy would show up near the end and grab all the glory.

Kreia wasn't there, but everyone else from the Ebon Hawk was. Even little T3 was holding his own. Atton didn't much like droids, but the little utility droid was starting to grow on him… though he was fairly certain it was cheating at pazaak. Bao-Dur was fun and, more often than not, shared Atton's warped since of humor. They were definitely united in their dislike of Disciple who'd effectively forced his way into their little circle of adventurers.

The number of mercenaries final dwindled down to barely a handful and that was when Vrook showed up. He ran up to the fighting and said, "looks like I got here just in time to save you from your predicament."

Atton started laughing… and then so did the merc he was fighting. In fact, the merc dropped his vibroblades, glanced about to see the many bodies of his fallen comrades, and his voice grew hysterical. "They don't need you. They've already killed us, we just won't acknowledge it yet."

By then, Atton had grown silent and had started backing away from the mercenary. "I think he's lost it," Atton muttered to Bao-Dur. The Zabarak nodded in agreement. Everyone else had turned to stare at the now crazy mercenary, who had unwittingly ended the botched coup. Even the droids were regarding the crazy man as though he was some sort of thermal detonator that might explode at any moment.

"I mean, we thought the farmers were useless people that we'd fought to defend, but no… they were soldiers themselves, weren't they. We were stupid and now we're dead, we're dead, we're dead…"

Disciple smacked the crazy guy over the head with the hilt of his vibroblade, which knocked the mercenary to the ground in an unconcious heap. "I think he needs to seek professional help."

"Ya don't say," Ann replied absently. "So… does this mean you guys surrender?" She turned to the mercenaries, "or are we going to go back to the fighting now?"

"We surrender," the mercenaries decided as one and tossed their weapons to the ground.

"Vrook, thank you for your well-timed, yet totally inaccurate statement. You saved us the trouble of defeating five men and a crazy person in melee style combat," Ann said, her tone rather cold. "Now, we should go spread the good news that Khoonda has won. Hopefully my involvement in this battle has helped bolster the local opinion of Jedi despite your inability to do anything worthwhile." With that, she disappeared into the main office to talk with the Administrator.

"You know, she's right," one of the mercenaries (not the unconcious, crazy one). "You were rather useless for a Jedi Master. I thought Masters were… well… brilliant fighters and tacticians and stuff."

"Oh, shut up," Vrook growled. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

--

"Killing one?"

"She attacked you, Ann. It's a perfectly logical question to ask in case she does it again." Atton defended his comment about how one might go about killing a Miraluka. "Besides, she's a Sith."

"She could be redeemed. Besides… her voice is soothing, much like Bao-Dur's, and I like having soothing voices around." Ann paused and then cuddled into the jacket she'd borrowed (coughSTOLENcough) once again. Atton had left it on one of the benches in the common area so that he could help Ann patch up the unnamed Miraluka – a.k.a. the sith apprentice – because Disciple, for all his medical knowledge, apparently fainted at the sight of purple blood.

Obviously there was a good reason he'd been slotted for seeking out the Jedi instead of a cushy job in a core world hospital.

"What, is my voice not soothing?" Atton immediately blushed after asking. It was ridiculous to keep pursuing her. As soon as she found out the truth about his past, he'd surely be booted out the nearest airlock.

Ann smirked, unaware of Atton's inner fears. "When you aren't panicking or being defensive, you have a very soothing voice. Why do you think I'm always taking you everywhere with me?"

"Because I'm so very charming and witty?"

"I'll give you witty. Lets… work on charming, shall we?" Looking over the Miraluka, Ann added, "think its safe to wake her up? I've got a lot of question to ask her."

"It should be. Do… do you want someone around while you talk to her? I mean… just in case she goes nuts or anything?"

"Atton… I'd very much appreciate having you here while I talk with her," Ann smiled at him and Atton felt his heart speed up.

No one had ever looked at him in quite that way before and he felt confused by it. She couldn't possibly return his feelings for her… right? Shaking those thoughts from his mind, Atton injected the blind woman with a mild stimulant and waited for her to wake.

She was confused at first and was very self-conscious about her empty eye-sockets. The first thing she did was adjust the purple hood over her face so that, much like Kreia, the upper half of her face could not be seen. "Why am I still alive?"

"I don't kill someone who is defenseless," Ann replied mildly. "What's your name?"

"Visas Marr. I am the apprentice of Darth Nihilus, in whom the universe shall die."

"How do you feel?"

"My wounds have been healed."

"That's not what I meant."

Atton wound up tuning out most of the conversation. He did learn that Visas' master wasn't the one who slept with vibroblades. No… this one just ate the Force for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and thus wound up killing a lot of Jedi just by sucking their life Force dry. Ergo, Visas served Darth Nihilus, the energy vampire.

When it came to enemies, Ann certainly knew how to pick them.

Eventually, Ann left Visas to rest and Atton followed her out of the infirmary. He wasn't too keen on leaving a Sith Apprentice without anyone to guard her, but since they were leaving for Nar Shaddaa that afternoon, he needed to have lunch and start running through the pre-flight.

"So… Ann, what are you going to do about Visas?"

"I'm going to keep her around." Ann shrugged. "I know she's a Sith and that's she's probably killed Jedi and done a thousand terrible things… but she wants to change. I don't like looking into other people's minds – it's a breach of privacy – and I could feel that from her without even leaving myself. She's been hurt, badly, and it's screaming into the Force."

"You want to heal her?"

"I'd like to try. I don't know if I can; I don't know where to begin."

She was so perplexing. Atton didn't know what to do or say; but suddenly he had this urge to tell her about his past. If she could accept Visas, who was still a Sith, then maybe…

Maybe…

Disciple walked up. "What you're doing for that Miraluka woman is wonderful, Ann," he gushed.

"I'm gonna start up the preflight and get the navicomputer locked in for Nar Shaddaa." Atton shook himself mentally. The things he'd done as a Sith Assassin were far worse than anything Visas had ever done. He could feel it. The Jedi he'd killed… he didn't deserve to be forgiven for their deaths. "I expect to get my jacket back at some point," he grumbled.

"I'll give it back once we're on our way to Nar Shaddaa," Ann promised. "Well… if you beat me at Pazaak, I'll give it back." She paused, narrowed her eyes, and added, "just don't think that means were using Nar Shaddaa rules, okay?"

"Didn't even cross my mind until you brought it up," Atton teased. "Now, however, I might just have to try and talk you into it."

"Never." She stuck her tongue out at him, put her hands into the jacket pockets, and started talking to Disciple as Atton left for the cockpit.

--

"Can I do anything to help?"

Atton jumped in surprise at the sound of Disciple's voice behind him and smacked his knees painfully on the underside of the control panel. "No. No, I don't need any help whatsoever. In fact, you've already become the opposite of help."

"What?"

"We were doing just fine without you," Atton snapped, twirling his chair around to face the blonde idiot. "You act like you're some sort of hero who's going to rush in and make all of Ann's problems disappear. Until you showed up, I didn't know the galaxy still had naïve twerps like you anymore."

"I just want to help her, that's all," Disciple protested.

"Help her with what? No one's even told you what we're doing."

"Well, I would assume she's taken it upon herself to destroy the Sith, gather the remaining Jedi Masters in the Outer Rim, and make amends for the Mandalorian Wars."

There was silence as Atton stared incredulously at Disciple. "You can't be serious. The Sith attacked her and won't leave her alone. She has no choice but to strike back. To do that she needs _intelligent_ allies… like the Jedi Masters. At least, I'm assuming the other three are intelligent since Atris is a bitch and Vrook is off in a fantasy world where he's a lot cooler and smarter than he really is.

"Finally, don't mention the Mandalorian Wars ever again. You were a child then and you have no idea what happened. Don't ever tell Ann she needs to make amends for what happened and you sure as hell had better not talk to Bao-Dur about it. Are we clear?"

Disciple winced and nodded before scurrying off. A few moments later, Bao-Dur showed up to take his place.

"How did you know?"

"Know what?" Atton asked evasively.

"I can tell you know about my involvement in Malachor V's… fate." Bao-Dur looked faintly disturbed, but was trying not to lose face.

"Look," Atton leaned back into his chair and tried to find a good way to phrase what he was about to say. "I know about what you designed and I know what it cost you. It took more than your arm; that's why you were on Telos fighting against Czerka. I don't understand what you might feel about what happened and I'm not here to judge you. I've done enough terrible things that I'd have to be dumber than Disciple to even try.

"What I do understand is that you're my friend and I don't want Mr. 'In-Search-Of-Shining-Armor' to bother you with stuff that's in the past."

The Iridonian looked relieved. "Thanks, Atton. You're a good friend to have."

"Really? Does that mean if I ask you to bring me lunch so I can avoid Kreia, who's on the prowl, you'll do that as a favor?"

Laughing, Bao-Dur nodded. "I'll find you something."

"What about getting my jacket back?"

"You're on your own there, Atton. The General gave me strict orders not to help you reclaim that jacket."

"Dammit."

A/N – I don't know if Miraluka actually have purple blood, but nor do I really care. I like to bash Disciple and he doesn't seem like the type who'd actually be any good at being a doctor. Maybe that's just because I don't like him and thus would never let him close enough to treat me.

I've always imagined Atton and Bao-Dur as being friends after that one scene at Nar Shaddaa where they joked a little before fighting the bounty hunters right while the Exile is away. And… since my interpretation of Atton is that he's very intelligent to go along with his intuition (considering he's portrayed as something of a slicer in the beginning of the game, that isn't much of a stretch) so I didn't see it as being much of a stretch for him to figure out the pasts of both Disciple and Bao-Dur.

Also, I'm not sure when the next update will be. I'm stuck in the 6th chapter and am uncertain as to how I will be getting unstuck. I'm at college and my laptop doesn't play KotOR II, otherwise I'd replay parts of the game to figure it out. My roommate has an XBOX, though, so if I can find the XBOX version of the game, that'd probably help.


End file.
